


The Perfect Prey

by LeolaWolfe



Category: Havenfall (Original Series)
Genre: Aftermath of Violence, Eventual Smut, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, M/M, Major Original Character(s), Original Character(s), Original Fiction, POV Original Character, Rape/Non-con Elements, Sex Addiction, Smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-01
Updated: 2017-11-04
Packaged: 2018-08-18 23:43:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,696
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8180284
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LeolaWolfe/pseuds/LeolaWolfe
Summary: Tyler had always known about the man who broke his best friend, but it doesn't make him any more prepared for their sudden meeting.





	1. Chapter 1

The wind surged through the thin alleys of backstreet Havenfall, strengthening the already biting cold that seemed to be steadily increasing as late September spilled over into early October. Buildings pressed in on both sides of the tiny street and sometimes towered to around four storeys in height, but if you looked up, the canopy of rooftops would give way and reveal the dazzling image of a rippling silken sky dotted with stars that sparkled like sequins.

And here I walked, playing an old rock song over and over in my head. It had been an unsuccessful night of addiction sustenance, and I mulled this over while I watched violent tremors rattle my hands over and over. I was just about to check my phone for the time when something in the shadows caught my eye, and I stopped dead.

A large black shape stood by the wall, seemingly folded in on itself, as it seemed to be one huge unrelenting mass. I had to step forward and strain my eyes to make out the figure of a tall, well-built man, hunched over and leaning against a large house. Dressing in casual blacks, a hood covered most of his head and cast heavy shadows over the parts left exposed. I could just about make out an outcropping of messy black hair sticking out from beneath the hood. I couldn’t help feeling intrigued and soon I was walking towards him as if guided by some otherworldly force. I managed to stop short of an arm’s length away from him; I may be stupid, but I’m not that stupid. My eyebrow and the corner of my mouth twitched up without my consent until I was settled into my usual smirk, and I felt the words tumble out of my mouth easily.

“Hey mate, you okay?” He responded with a chuckle, a deep, sinister sound that seemed to echo in the air between us, sending ice and fire ricocheting up and down my spine. When he spoke, the tone stayed low but danced around mockingly. And there was something else there, a kind of nonchalant threat behind his words.

“I don’t know…. I should probably be asking you though since it doesn’t really look like you’ve been riding anyone recently.”

He knew. How could he have known? I felt my smirk falter a little, but forced it back up again as though I was holding a heavy but life-saving shield.

“Sorry, what?”

“Oh, he doesn’t know? That’s cute.” His tones were almost melodic in the air, mesmerising in some horrible, twisted way, “It never was going to be drugs or alcohol was it…. Tyler?” It took me a moment to remind myself to calm down. After all, I’d been waiting for the day that someone I had used to feed my addiction would come back to get me. I just had to be calm.

“Do I…. do I know you?”

“Me? No no,” Who was this guy!? “But I know you…. Well, not personally. I’m sure you’d have liked to, though. I could’ve satisfied at least a day or two of your…. addiction.” The last word came out with the tiniest hiss. I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I was frozen, staring at this man in this alley whom I had never met, but claimed to know me. It took a good few seconds of mindless gaping for me to bring myself back to reality and start to formulate an escape plan. I sank onto one foot, letting a little grin take centre stage.

“Listen, I’m flattered, really. But uh…. thanks but no thanks, creepy stranger in a back alley.” I walked on, trying to stay nonchalant but unable to stop myself from picking up the pace as he called after me,

“I don’t think you can walk away from this one, Tyler…. Don’t you want to know how Lizzie was broken? Or should I say, how I broke her?” I stopped in my tracks with the distinct feeling of a punch in the gut shaking my whole body. Liz. The sweet shy girl I liked to annoy from time to time because it showed what was trapped beneath the surface. The girl I worried about endlessly, constantly fretting over what I was told had happened to her and how it had affected her. And here was the answer, standing in a dark alley in the middle of a labyrinth. Laughing like a man beyond reprise behind me was the person who had crushed one of my best friends.

I have to admit, I was a little terrified. But mostly, I was furious.

“You.”

I felt my entire face heat up, not only my hands but my entire body shaking with rage. This man had destroyed someone’s life and had the audacity to laugh about it!?

“Me! I’m the great Rob! The shadow hanging over every minute of her past! The black arrow in her heart that stole her innocence. But how are you any different, Mr. Berry? How many girls did you get through? Casting them aside to feed your imperfections….” I rolled my eyes and swung lazily to face him. Now he’s drawn up to his full height, he’s substantially taller than me, but it’s difficult to tell his build because of how loosely his clothing rests around him. The feature I couldn’t avoid, though, was his eyes. They were acid green, like they could burn holes right through you, and they glinted silver with mischief and danger in the moonlight under a head of unkempt, charcoal black hair.

“I’ve never heard that one before. First off, that was the most pretentious thing I’ve ever heard. Second, every girl and guy knew what they were getting into. They knew it was a one night stand.”

“They knew? But you know inside of you it was wrong. You need sex because you’re nothing, Tyler. You have nothing without that momentary escape from this crappy roadshow of a life. ” That word, nothing. It felt like a jab in the heart. I had no way to respond, so I just let my head drop and surveyed the damp, cobbled ground beneath me. But he wasn’t done yet.

“And there it is,” He purred, rolling out the ‘and’ as if savouring my defeat, “Tyler Berry with no words. My, my, quite a sight.” It was true. I had built myself a reputation as a conversationalist, and now I was reduced to…. 

 

“... you done yet?”

“Oh I’ll never be done, Tyler. Just like you’re never going to be.” his powerful chuckle rang out again, softer this time but still managing to fill the world. I couldn’t understand what he wanted, why he was talking to me. Was this just some way to get back at Liz?

“She’s safe now. You’re not getting her back, so why are you even bothering?” His response set off a deep, ominous churning in my stomach.

“Safe?” He let out a short, sharp bark of a laugh, “You think you can keep her safe? Oh Tyler, I don’t need to be anywhere near her. She’s the one that tied the noose the first time, anyway.” I was about to ask what he meant when I was cut off by his parting sentiments, “Check your mail sometime, I hear there’s a delivery….”

And with that, he was gone. But, I couldn’t help myself from staring into the dark for almost a full minute after his silhouette had entirely vanished from sight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE post a critique of my work!! I really want to improve for the future because I'm not very happy with my work in its current state. The first few chapters were all written pre-posting, so if you could please critique, I'll try to make my work way way better for the future!


	2. Chapter 2

It had been like a scene from a horror movie.

I came home to find a fairly small box sitting on the table, addressed to me. On the inside of the lid was a sticky note, written in sprawling green pen. The words made me feel sick.

_Knives are so very pretty but... my oh my, do they cause a mess. Lizzie was so kind when she tied this instead. I thought I’d pass on her handiwork to you. After all, she never really got to appreciate it._

I reached into the box with clumsy fingers and retrieved a neat coil of thick rope. When I found the end and realised its purpose, the ground fell away beneath my feet.

At one end of the rope was a loop attached to the main body not by a hangman’s knot, but by some indescribable tangle that seemed to function like a slipknot. There was no finesse or style, definitely a hasty rush job. It was almost as if she’d needed to do it, and had just been waiting for the right chance.

I decided to keep this encounter as far away from my friends as possible; if Rob wasn’t going after anyone else, it was my business. They all had enough to worry about anyway.

After a day of thinking about what Rob must’ve done to Liz to make her do what she did, I realised I should probably take a walk to clear my head.

This is how I ended up walking through the park at 7:30, jacket discarded on a counter back home. I could feel the cold air soaking into my skin, slowly energising my brain. The grass was saturated with rain, and I felt it seeping through my shoes. The darkness covered the park, leaving the town as a silhouette and the benches as….

There was someone sitting on one of the benches. 

He was wearing a deep green shirt, open over a grey t shirt. I could see his thick, muscled arms since he wasn't wearing the heavy black coat. What made my step stutter were the acid green eyes darting around, taking in everything from under a messy black fringe.

And then they found me. My stomach plummeted down and hit the ground hard, but I urged myself to walk faster, just to get past him. He stepped into my path with a strange, lazy energy. I just pushed past, throwing him a brief “Not interested.” as I did. Although he made no further move to stop me, he turned and said,

“Oh, so you got my little present then? You want to hear about how she got that scar?”  
This made me stop in my tracks, my insides already burning with anger and curiosity. Liz’s back was utterly macerated with scars, but…. “You know it.” Of course I did. “The big rrrrip.” The way he dragged out the word made me shudder. The biggest scar on Liz’s back went all the way from her right shoulder to her left hip. It was about an inch wide, the skin around it raised and creased as if it had been clawed open. I knew it had something to do with Rob, though I didn’t know what, and that lack of knowledge kept me glued to the spot. “I’m sure not knowing the details is killing you right now.”

Much as I hate to admit it, he was right. I slowly turned to him, retaining what I hoped was an unreadable expression.

“Tell me.” His mouth curled into a sick little smile as he began his story:

“Well a… client… of ours,” I knew enough to know exactly what that meant and felt my jaw set involuntarily, “She phoned to say she wouldn’t be returning. Naturally, I had to punish Lizzie for being so inadequate. So I took a chain, split the last link and- oh my- the way she cried, over and over and over. Until,” he let out a laugh, the warmest, most human sound I had ever heard him make, while talking about such inhuman, horrific acts, “it got stuck! Wedged in her skin.” My heart stopped. “So I give it one mighty tug and bits of Liz repaint my damn floor. I hope you like souvenirs. The postman may have one for you….”

My heart rate had skyrocketed. My mouth was dry, my eyes wide and I could only bring myself to think one thing:

“You’re fucking sick.”

“You act like I’d ever care. That’s what makes you so weak, Tyler. All this caring. Why do you hang around with such a broken person? Don’t you get fed up of her insecurities?” I was seething, my entire face and abdomen burning with rage, staring at his mocking smile with narrowed eyes. My fists were clenched so hard it hurt, and I could practically hear every cell in my body screaming at me to punch him. But despite my reputation, I knew better.

“Don’t you act like you know anything about me because you’ve asked around.” my sharpened, bitter tone of voice shocked me: I didn’t sound anything like my usual self. “And don’t you dare act like you know Liz, or the lengths I’d go to to make sure she’s safe.”

He was still staring at me with that stupid. Condescending. Mocking. Grin.

“Cute. Pathetic, but cute. Have fun protecting her from herself, Tyler. This next present left its mark.” He chuckled and started to walk away and I couldn’t let him get away with it and I couldn’t think and I was running at him and my fist was pulling back and-

“Sleep well, Tyler.”

He was watching me, daring me to do it.

I took a swing, which he dodged easily, sending me stumbling past. He was still mocking me with that smirk, with those eyes that could pierce right into me.

“Please, Tyler. Save yourself the trouble. Liz is gonna need you….” he glanced at his watch, “In about five minutes. Hit me, and she’ll have nobody there when the hammer falls.”

 

For a split second, I wondered who he was threatening, me or Liz. Then I realised.

“Ha- what do you mean hammer?”

“Hammers. Nails. Metal,” his voice dripping with mock innocence as he revelled in the time he was wasting, “Oh silly me. Chains…. That’s it.”

My blood ran cold. He wasn’t going to send something to her? My heart stopped, then started beating overtime, thudding against my chest so hard it was almost painful. I had five minutes to stop her from opening that package and falling apart. It took ten minutes to get to her house at a walk. The stark truth was that I had no idea whether I would get there in time. He planned that. He planned everything perfectly, and I fell right into his trap. The perfect prey.

“You….” My thoughts raced too fast for me to begin to voice my shocked disgust. I didn’t have time for that, I didn’t have time for him. I had to leave, now. My legs were going like pistons, launching me across the grass towards the forest at full pelt. I heard him say something behind me, but it didn’t matter. The only thing that mattered was getting to Liz before the five minute mark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE post a critique of my work!! I really want to improve for the future because I'm not very happy with my work in its current state. The first few chapters were all written pre-posting, so if you could please critique, I'll try to make my work way way better for the future!


	3. Chapter 3

My legs were all too keen to remind me that they weren’t made for endurance. After two minutes passed and I was racing along the outskirts of town, my muscles were screaming at me to slow or stop. My lungs burned in my chest. Another minute or two and my breath came in gasps. It didn’t feel like I was breathing at all, but I was flying down the unpaved road to Liz’s cottage.

A voice in the back of my mind was telling me to calm down, that knowing I was in this state was exactly what he wanted and I needed to prove him wrong. But every moment thinking about that condescending smirk and every heavy impact of my feet against the dirt threw me further into agony. I was all too aware that I was nearly at Liz’s house and I hadn’t crossed paths with anyone. He really did time it all perfectly. I was nearing the last turn, the trees skimming aside to show the little stonewall cottage I knew so well.

Legs shaking, I stumbled to a stop. The courier was walking away from the house. I was too late.

My gut thudded against the floor unpleasantly for the second time in the past hour as I dragged my trembling legs to the door and knocked. The hard wood caused throbbing waves of pain to crash around the side of my hand, but the pain was easily ignored next to the stabbing anxiety piercing my chest and turning my stomach.

The door opened.

Lizzie stood there in the dimly lit room. I could hear a fire crackling invitingly behind her. She wore a creamy tunic, blue jeans and a cozy, patterned blanket draped over her shoulders despite the warm looking interior of her thatched-roof cottage. I thanked God and Lady Luck when I didn’t see any fear or tears on her face and finally let myself breathe again.

“Tyler?” her voice was light and melodic like a small bird, and concern was painted lightly across her face, “What are you doing here?”

It was at this point that I realised I was doubled over, lungs sore from breathing so heavily, arms and legs drained. A mess, basically. Oh well. Time to form a coherent sentence.

“Hey…. kitten….” I managed hoarsely, “Don’t…. don’t open the…. the thing….” Close enough. She rolled her eyes and held the door open.

“Come in, Wolfie.” I chuckled breathlessly at the deadpan retort and stumbled into the house. The box sat on a small table beside the door and I picked it up as I passed, feeling the reassuring dense weight and sinking into one of her big, plush sofas next to the fire. Liz, of course, noticed the absence of the package immediately. “Tyler, give it back.” she ordered, exasperated. I shook my head furiously, gradually recovering.

“Can’t... sorry...”

“What’s in there? Why is it so heavy?”

“Can’t tell you...” she was obviously reaching the end of her tether; she'd never had much patience with me (which makes me an anomaly of epic proportions), and I could tell by the look on her face that my attitude was just aggravating her more.

“Tyler, I don't have the energy for this.”

“Great, so we can stop arguing and you can let me go get rid of this thing.”

“No. That's my mail. Give me the box right now.”

“You don't understand, I can't!”

If there's one person I’d never want to fight, it's Liz (ironically enough, since we had verbal skirmishes on a daily basis), but as she started to reach for the box, I saw no other choice but to slap her hands away.

“Tyler!” she scolded, completely passing her breaking point. She went for the box, and I was never more thankful for how weak and easy to pin she is. As I slammed her down into the sofa, arms and legs held against the soft fabric, she didn't look angry anymore. She didn't even look mildly annoyed.

She looked terrified.

The way she looked at me sent a spear through my heart. It looked like she was expecting me to do something horrible. Something like him. It made me freeze up completely, just for a moment. Then I moved off and turned away, trying desperately to forget that face.

“Just…. Forget it, okay?”

“Okay.” her meek voice came from behind me as she got off the sofa. She went to the kitchen, and I collapsed into a chair. That seemed to do the job. Now I just had to get rid of that box.

The box which was nowhere to be seen.

A jarringly loud series of metallic jangling clatters came from the kitchen. My head spun as I threw myself out of the chair and into the small room. Liz was stood in the centre of the kitchen, a craft knife lying on the counter next to the box. The open, empty box. The chain lay in a discordant heap on the ground, coiled around and over itself like a long, thick, heavy snake. But what brought the lump to my throat, what both sets of eyes in the room were undoubtedly focused on, was the last link. Split open, bent around its neighbour and sharpened to a vicious point.

Coated in deep reddish brown. Dried blood.

Numbly, I walked to the box and read the neglected note stuck to the inside of the lid, in that same scrawled green biro as its predecessor:

_I would keep this, but while it left its mark on you I thought you’d love to see it again. It still has a few bits of you left on it if you look hard enough.  
How generous of me._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE post a critique of my work!! I really want to improve for the future because I'm not very happy with my work in its current state. The first few chapters were all written pre-posting, so if you could please critique, I'll try to make my work way way better for the future!


	4. Chapter 4

I was sat by the warm and murky depths of Luna Lake, a large pool formed by the water from the thunderous waterfall high up in the mountains surrounding Havenfall.  
I felt the small flash drive protruding from my trouser pocket. Its contents were the reason for my visit to this specific spot. 

My attention was drawn to a sound behind me. As I was about to turn to see if Tyler had in fact appeared, as I had expected him to, a familiar voice called out from behind me.

“You have know idea how hard it is not to kick you in the gut right now” He said sharply as he threw my previous gifts into the waters of the lake. The metal chain and noose made a soft _splosh_ as they sunk to the sandy lake floor but it mattered not. They had fulfilled their purpose. I anticipated such hostility and responded mockingly.

“You wouldn’t want to destroy this, though.” I confidently pulled out the small flash drive and wafted it temptingly in front of his vision.

“I’m tempted. What is it?” I sensed a badly hidden curiosity , despite his aggressive tone.

“A little memoir from her stay with me. You’ll want to see what’s on it if you’re ever going to understand her.” I held back a dark laugh, like fish to a hook I knew I had caught my prey. He took it after a brief pause. Obviously. How could he ever resist?

“That’s not what I meant. What. Is. it?”

“My documentation of a few of our… clients’ work…”  
I watched his face curl into one of outward disgust and couldn’t help but smile as he acted out my plan and placed it straight into his bag.

“Well that’s disgusting.”

“Business is disgusting. Get used to it.” I snapped, unable to hold back the temptation to break his idea of how true business played out.

“Don’t pretend like anything you’re doing here is business.” The hateful expression hardly surprised me. “ Anything else you’re gonna send me?”

The mere thought of what else would follow brought a warm sensation to my mind.

“Of course, Tyler. How could I resist meeting the man himself again?”  
I practically purred the line.

A sick displeasure spread across his face before he retorted with a bitter:  
“Of course…” The defeat was simple enough to see as he sighed: “Where are you gonna stalk me next?”

I considered my response briefly.

“Hm, I don’t know…” Then I remembered with a devious smirk. “But I think you’ll like what I have next time. Till then, Ty-Ty” I turned away from him, his reply no longer mattered. The damage had been done.

“....Bye…” He slowly ambled away, back into the forest from where he had emerged mere minutes ago. It was clear that he had bitten yet another bait in my scheme.

\----

The events at the lake were but a few days prior. I was walking down one of the quieter streets of Havenfall, searching for the music shop in which I had planned our next… encounter. Checking my watch, I sat down just outside the door. Watching. Waiting.

Sure enough, only 2 minutes later the familiar face of Tyler rounded a corner and for a single beautiful second our eyes met. Then the disgust, which I had come to enjoy, spread like a virus across his face. I was almost sad when he said nothing and walked straight into the shop. Standing up and walking inside like a flowing wave, I stalked up to him. 

“Know what I have today?” I smirked and displayed a blank, inconspicuous brown envelope. 

“Wait” He turned to the shop owner and asked.” Got those strings I ordered?” 

The man, who must have been in his twenties and looked like someone from a soft rock band, nodded and walked out into the storeroom, leaving us alone together. How perfect.

“Something horrifying?” He sounded defeated and it was obvious to both us that this envelope contained nothing but events best left buried.

“No, no. In fact. I think you may like this one.” Smirking, I handed him the envelope and awaited the destruction of the psychological time bomb I had just given him.

He rolled his eyes and said tiredly. “Photos. Lucky me”.

Slowly, he pulled out a wad of photos and examined them. I heard his breath curtly stop. The whites of his eyes practically exploded as they filled with soft tears.

“Wh-what did you…?” His voice shook uncontrollably as he glanced at photo after photo. “Y-you…..What the hell…”

The smile, that only my antics with Tyler could muster, widened into a deadly grin.

“Familiar?”

Swathes of tears rolled down his cheeks as he neared the end. “S-She’s crying…” The desperation in his voice was beyond expression. “Why would you?...”

“After what she did to you? Please, it’s nothing.” My justification clearly was not enough for him.

“No...Nobody would ever deserve this!” His voice was perched on the edge of either cracking or shouting.

“Really?” I chuckled darkly as I watched his reaction. “How much do you value freedom? She clearly didn’t value it much so I made her realise…”

Tyler stuffed all the photos back into the envelope hastily and thrust them toward me. “I don’t want these.” He wiped his eyes of the tears that had welled as I raised my eyebrow in surprise. I hadn’t expected him to return them. Everything I’d learnt about their history together… even when dancing to my devilish tune, Tyler Berry could throw a curveball. I waited and watched him.

“TAKE IT!” He practically screamed as I disregarded his request and walked out with a noise of malevolent intrigue.

As I walked out I heard him pay and before I knew it, he was outside grabbing my arm and shouting: “Take the fucking pictures!”

Tyler swearing? I guess he really was desperate for me to take them. Reluctantly, I complied and stuffed them into my pocket. Moments before I left I stopped and tauntingly muttered:

“She’s alive you know…” My tone wavered dangerously near threatening.

“And you let her go?!” The desperation in Tyler’s voice was evident. 

Knowing that silence contained more impact than any devilish taunt could, I merely laughed and walked away. Leaving Tyler’s mind to fill in the gory details…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE post a critique of my work!! I really want to improve for the future because I'm not very happy with my work in its current state. The first few chapters were all written pre-posting, so if you could please critique, I'll try to make my work way way better for the future!


	5. Chapter 5

It had been two long, torturous days since I last saw Rob. Two long days of comforting Liz, of trying to get her back on her feet and ready for work the next day. I’d just about managed it, but I hadn’t gotten much sleep. Between caring for Liz, worrying about Linda and a constant tugging at my mind as though I was missing something, I had gained some very impressive insomnia. It came to my attention that I needed some sort of distraction, then it came to my attention that Rob had been very effective in that particular area. So despite my better judgement, I was walking through the woods a few hours later.

The dappled sunlight filtered through lush emerald green leaves overhead and came to rest on the dew-covered grass below in shimmering patches. I traipsed between the great wooden pillars and waited for him to appear.

Sure enough, after a few minutes of walking, I saw a pair of scuffed and faded black trainers come to a halt in front of me. I had to fight to stop my relief from showing on my face as I looked up into the familiar all-seeing acidic pools. Odd.

“Follow me, Tyler. You need to see this.” I sighed gently and indicated for him to lead on.

The best part of an hour later, we arrived at the gate of a wooden cabin deep in the woods. The house itself was just big enough to be mildly threatening, but that was probably just the paranoia and the sleep deprivation talking. Rob opened the gate to let me pass first and I walked slowly up to the door, not bothering to thank him. He opened the door for me, but this time I waited for him to lead the way; I knew how he worked, and I had decided to be far more careful. Once we were both inside, he pointed at a heavy metal door.

“Go in there and look.” I have to admit that I was strangely intrigued, as always when it came to conversations with Rob. The door was locked, however. I told him as much and he sprang forward to unlock it for me. It was almost like watching a little puppy bouncing around its owner’s legs. Strangely charming. But I didn’t let my guard down, easing the door open slowly.

As my field of vision slowly swept across the room, I saw brick walls and a concrete floor with a threadbare rug tossed into the middle. Pipes of all kinds ran along the ceiling at the perfect height to be barely out of reach. Bolted to the walls and floor were various iron loops, the kind you’d find in a medieval dungeon; it was just Rob’s style. My stomach began to churn as I opened the door far enough to reveal the end of an unstable-looking metal bed, bolted down and with minimal bedding. Then I saw what had Rob so worked up.

Linda was sat on the bed. She looked like a ghost, her skin so deathly pale. Probably from blood loss. It wouldn’t surprise me. Her pale pink silk blouse was missing buttons and the stitching on the sleeve was half broken so her bare shoulder was revealed, lacerated with scratches. The rich, chocolate brown pencil skirt she wore was shredded at the hem and had a significant hole halfway up the side. Both garments were filthy with various stains, the origins of which I didn’t ever want to know.

I looked back at Rob, shaken to my core by utter disgust. He was simply looking between me and Linda with this big triumphant smile on his face, like he’d just won the grand prize in psychopathy. Which, in my books, he definitely did.

And then it hit me. The things he had been saying in the music shop, the look on his face when I declined the photos of her. He thought he was doing me a favour. He brought me here to show me his prey like a cat bringing its owner a dead bird; it was vile, but he seemed to think it was a display of… what? Friendship? Compassion? Loyalty? Did he even have the capacity to understand those things? Unable to look at his awful, smug expression any longer, I turned my attention back to the person more deserving of it.

I looked back to Linda, concerned. She still hadn’t moved from her position sat on the bed, staring at the floor in front of her. I could just about make out the tear tracks tracing through the grime on her face from where I was standing.

The last time I had seen Linda Cartwright, I was sixteen and she had just left my heart and my self-respect in tatters. She spent two years making me feel as worthless as possible, then left me in the dust with nothing but a sex addiction and several severe commitment issues. But as I looked at her, she was so frail, so helpless, what little hate remained dissipated completely.

“Linda…?”

She looked up slowly, watery green eyes sunken and surrounded by bruises that spread across her whole body. My entire chest throbbed painfully. She suddenly looked so small and fragile, as though a glare could shatter her. I abandoned my better judgement altogether and ran over, colliding with her as gently as I could and holding her close to my chest. I could feel her wince as pain shot through her but her trembling arms encircled my waist, obviously in desperate need of this genuine comfort. I obliged, burying my cheek in hair that once shone in golden waves but now hung dirty and matted over her shoulders. Rob’s easy tones came from the doorway,

“Welcome to Lizzie’s past, Tyler. This is it!” He sounded almost like a circus’ ringleader, like he was proud of himself for cultivating such a horrific, inhuman environment to make a person feel as low and pitiful as possible. I preoccupied myself with helping Linda stand on her shaking legs so I wouldn’t have to look around too much at what Liz’s existence used to be.

“You kept her _here?_ ” His face once again spread into that smirk that lit my insides on fire.

“Right here. She tried to hang herself where you stand now.” My head snapped up from Linda’s pained, anxious features to see a thick pipe running along the ceiling, little scratch marks making fuzzy lines across the sides. My heart sank down under the weight of the bleak past my friend used to call a life.

The faint sound of crackling brought me back to reality. By the time I tore my eyes away from the pipe and looked back down, Rob was holding an electrified cattle prod. My head spun at the thought of a live-action demonstration. On-site, viewing mandatory. But as his tone turned sharp, dangerous and demanding, his next words surprised and shocked me in equal measure:

“Now listen here. You’re gonna take off your clothes and get ready for me. Or, I’ll have you dribbling on the floor while I whip her before your eyes! Let’s see how far you’d go to protect that… scum!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE post a critique of my work!! I really want to improve for the future because I'm not very happy with my work in its current state. The first few chapters were all written pre-posting, so if you could please critique, I'll try to make my work way way better for the future!


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